True Grace Found at Central High School

A tall, lanky Senior attendee of Central High School, Grace Cochran has a bold ambition to one day take leave of the south and start fresh somewhere anew. She doesn’t hate Tennessee, she simply believes that “It’s gotten kinda old.”

Grace has been almost everywhere in the southern end of the country, and wants to begin exploring the north as well. She gets tired of the same old southern styles and traditions, and wants to take a break from it all. She hopes to achieve a position at Purdue University once she graduates, as she is extremely interested in the different engineering and science courses offered by the college. Seeing as how she graduates next semester, Grace has been thinking avidly of what she wants to do, while also thinking back on her life as a whole up to this point.

She enjoys listening to music, but mostly instrumental arrangements that not many have heard of. Her favorite movie is Stephen King’s hit coming-of-age tale “Stand By Me”, and has seen it on numerous occasions. She loves to travel, and hopes to one day see more of the northern half of the continent.

Grace has always lived in the East Tennessee area, and is a regular attendee at West Hills Baptist Church out near the Cedar Bluff area. She avidly joins in with the small volunteering projects that the church conducts, such as volunteering at homeless shelters, Young-Williams Animal Shelter, and performing many clothing and food drives. She took a big trip up to Kentucky one year, where she helped out Club 180 with their ministry.

Grace has an incredibly supportive and loving family. Her mother is actually Mrs. Cochran, a math teacher at Gresham Middle School, which some of you may have had in the past. When asked about her daughter, Mrs. Cochran replied with, “Grace likes helping people. She has actually done some math tutoring for some students at Central High School. She loves to learn. She does not like drama that often comes with High School because she doesn’t like it when people are mean to one another. She is very ready to complete High School and move on to her college career.” I believe that this compliments Grace’s personality perfectly.

Grace attended Gresham instead of a middle school closer to home as she wanted to be closer to her Mom. Grace also has a dog named Cooper, whom she recently acquired several Christmases ago.

Last semester, Grace experienced something that really changed her life for the better. She became pressured by all of the expectations and stereotypes that other people had for her, and she went on to become something that she was not. She hated what she had become, and decided that no matter how much you want to impress people, do not let them control your character. Grace knew that any friends worth having would accept her as she was, and not expect anything extra.

When many encounter her for the first time, they automatically assume that she has everything together, and that she’s a calm, collected, and overall well-rounded individual. She does not believe this about herself, however, and says that she actually doesn’t have much together at all. This does not dissuade her from shooting high though, as she has big, albeit vague, plans for her future.